BJP MP Vijay Goel on Thursday called for the death penalty for builders who cheat homebuyers out of their savings, telling the Rajya Sabha that the offence was “no less than rape”.

Raised in Zero Hour

Speaking during Zero Hour, the former Union minister described the plight of lakhs of buyers in the Delhi-NCR region who had paid for flats with hard-earned money and been defrauded by developers. Calling the fraud a “rape of the middle class”, he sought punishment as severe as capital punishment for builders who deliberately deceive buyers. He said countries such as China, Vietnam and Thailand have the death penalty for similar white-collar crimes.

The Amrapali case

Goel’s demand followed a recent Supreme Court verdict that cancelled the Amrapali group’s registration under RERA, the real estate law, for cheating more than 42,000 homebuyers. It also ordered the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), a state-run body, to finish the group’s incomplete projects.

Goel said hundreds of builders besides Amrapali had cheated the middle class. He questioned where the NBCC would find the money and asked whether the government intended to take over the remaining projects through it.

Other demands

He alleged that many builders had still not registered under the 2016 Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, leaving flat buyers to pay both EMIs on home loans and rent for the homes they live in now. He asked that homebuyers be given first claim on dues when a builder’s property and inventory are liquidated.

Goel also said celebrities and brand ambassadors who have a stake in housing projects should be held answerable for misleading advertisements if the projects they promote prove fraudulent.

See also: Bharatiya Janata Party | Political leaders

Originally published on 26 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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